tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27220129548062485292018-02-14T19:00:34.452-04:00Jan MorrisonJan Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01771180344305042855noreply@blogger.comBlogger1053125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-87561903189452387262018-02-07T01:00:00.000-04:002018-02-07T01:00:00.217-04:00<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQfALGhLXd6SihI87H-icAewCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQfALGhLXd6SihI87H-icAewCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's another meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group so grab your cuppa of what heals ya and read on. Go to this <a href="https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/">https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com</a>&nbsp;to catch up with the rest of the gang.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The question for today's post is "What do you love about the genre you write in most often?"&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If only. I do not have a genre I write in most often. I've got a YA/literary novel out looking for a home - it doesn't even know what genre it is. I've got three mysteries at various stages of done or abandoned.&nbsp; I have a couple more...uh...literary or commercial novels hanging about, and I just entered a chap book competition.&nbsp; My work in progress is a memoir but it might turn into several memoirs. Oh, and I've written five plays that have made it onto the stage.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The one I'm writing is the one I love most. Right now that is memoir, but also poetry as I'm doing that too. I could tell you that no, it is definitely memoir. The rest was just a run up, and like my late blooming love (the fella and I were both fifty when we met), this is true love! Unlike my love life, however, I am pretty sure that I'm just in first throes.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can tell you what I'd prefer to be published as. A novelist. Not a mystery writer or a YA or a memoirist, a playwright or a poet - nope, a novelist. Like Dickens (who wrote plays) or Ondaatje (poetry and plays) or Atwood (poetry, children's books). Or like Drabble, who wrote novels.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So...My answer to the question is - What I love most about the genre I write in is its lovely mutability, its inability to hold a form, its floaty, slippery, unpinable-downity. I think I might need to name the genre that I write most often in. I shall call it Big Sky &amp; Endless Ocean. Cannot wait to see that on the bookshelf of my favorite independent bookstore!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How about you all? Do you have a laser-like focus on a genre that works for you?</div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-74909322229379279582018-01-03T01:00:00.000-04:002018-01-03T01:00:05.318-04:00IWSG - first meeting of 2018<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQfALGhLXd6SihI87H-icAewCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQfALGhLXd6SihI87H-icAewCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;">It's another meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" style="color: #a13700; text-decoration-line: none;">Insecure Writer's Support Group&nbsp;</a>- we meet to well, support each other in our crazy desires to be part of the writing life. If you're interested go to the link above and sign up or at least have a boo - lots of great blogs to visit!</span></i><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;"><br /></span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;"><br /></span></i>It is another meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">Insecure Writers Support Group</a>&nbsp;and I'm excited! I love the new year with its lovely blank pages awaiting. I plan on sullying many of them - or smudging them, or decorating them, or utterly ruining them. The main thing is that I will use each day. I will be awake and on the ball.<br /><br />Here is this meeting's question -&nbsp;<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: center;"><b>January 3 question -&nbsp;</b></span><span style="text-align: center;">What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?</span></span><br /><br />This is a bit of a slippery question. So many steps and plans and schedules between me and writing. Hmm... I will write every day. I am writing every day and I will continue to do so. I usually do a thousand words a day on my current project (<i>Ruby's House </i>- a memoir of our time here in Labrador). I have also committed to sending out 11 poems this month and will see how that goes. I tend to send poems out in mad batches and then wait. I did get one published in December so feel chuffed! I have had two batches rejected and one batch I haven't heard back from yet (sent all in June).<br /><br />I would like to revisit my plans with <i>Bright Angel.&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;It is currently out to 7 agents or publishers but some of those have had it for quite awhile with no peep. I had a strong nibble last year (request for full) but it didn't pan out. I am considering rewriting the first chapter or making a prologue as it gives a false example of the book as a whole - yet it is the right first chapter. As I say, I'm considering these things. Part of the problem is that I don't like to consider it a YA but some people do because the main protagonist is a youth. This annoys me - what if <i>Catcher in the Rye</i> was considered a YA? Maybe it is, but when it came out there was no such genre.<br /><br />I have a mystery that I worked on for the past couple of years ( <i>Crooked Knife </i>) but I am not happy with the ending. Okay - we're all kind here - there is no ending. I can't do it and it is kind of crucial for a mystery. I really really like the book though - the voice, the mystery, the passion and so on. So it deserves some of my time or I need some help with it.<br /><br />So - with that I bid you adieu as I have some writing to do today and perhaps a bit of research on a new place to send some poems.<br /><br />I hope you are full of enthusiasm for this new writing year and I will swing by to see some of you...<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-63238308802491136882017-12-06T03:00:00.000-04:002017-12-14T17:58:57.645-04:00What would I change? Nothing.<br /><div class="columns-inner" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; min-height: 0px;"><div class="column-center-outer" style="background: none left top repeat scroll transparent; float: left; position: relative; width: 590px;"><div class="column-center-inner" style="padding: 10px 0px;"><div class="main section" id="main" name="Main" style="margin: 0px 10px;"><div class="widget Blog" data-version="1" id="Blog1" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="blog-posts hfeed"><div class="date-outer" style="margin-bottom: 2em;"><div class="date-posts"><div class="post-outer"><div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" style="min-height: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-header" style="line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2994473905408740031" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 570px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #a13700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><span style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">It's another meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" style="color: #a13700; text-decoration-line: none;">Insecure Writer's Support Group&nbsp;</a>- we meet to well, support each other in our crazy desires to be part of the writing life. If you're interested go to the link above and sign up or at least have a boo - lots of great blogs to visit!</span></i></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It is time for another meeting of the <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">IWSG</a>&nbsp;- a chance for all of us to unload the burdens of our writerly hearts about our writerly arts. The question -&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">As you look back on 2017, with all its successes/failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently?</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">And I would answer - quite honestly - nothing. Why wouldn't I relish the opportunity to go back in time and polish up my behavior a bit? I know that all of it is worthwhile. If I changed anything I would learn less. I learn from bumping up against the world, not from sitting fat and sassy in the center of the tree, holding onto the solid trunk, but from dancing out on the skinny branches, falling through the sky, landing so that the air in my lungs explodes out of me leaving me panting on the ground to stand up, climb up and try again.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">This year I learned a ton - I failed muchly and biggly.&nbsp; I failed at understanding the Indigenous culture here in Labrador - I learned so much. I failed at trying to impart wisdom hugely and catastrophically at times - I learned so much. I failed at finishing the mystery I've been working on for two years - and I learned it isn't ready to be written - yet! I started a memoir about my time here in Labrador and I did get my words done for NaNoWriMo but more importantly I won a hard and good appreciation for the memoir form. I have been deeply energized by that. I got a new hip this year - in April - and I learned with great difficulty that my body is precious and being able to move is a gift that I will not take for granted. I struggled with politics both here and in the world. I do not like what is coming out - the poison - but I am so grateful it is surfacing and being dealt with and not rotting the world from within. I learned that no matter what - I don't know what I don't know and I must keep humbling myself in the eyes of the teachers - I will bend down low. I know that next year I will know things I can't believe I hadn't learned before but there it is - 65 and I am such a foolish student. But I do know that - so good on me!</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">Now - back to working on my memoir. What fun this is and terrible too - full of memories that I would not touch up for all the world.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-26939572442683107902017-11-04T11:23:00.000-03:002017-11-04T11:23:05.272-03:00A Celebration! Yesterday evening I received news that a literary and arts magazine will publish a poem of mine. This is such welcome news after a spate of rejections.&nbsp; Today I will celebrate by sending some more out, working on a memoir, doing my Buddhist meditation practice for a few hours, and watering my plants. I might even start a new poem as I have seen the edge of it the last few days. It slips around the corner but I may be able to grab it by the coat-tails next time. I'll be gentle.&nbsp; There may be a bit of it in this photo of my fella making a boil-up on the trail.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2gFakXqgjzc/Wf3M4La7r9I/AAAAAAAAJ5Q/aXthSyli0l0VsRnC_ctra-phTzXVYB7cwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2gFakXqgjzc/Wf3M4La7r9I/AAAAAAAAJ5Q/aXthSyli0l0VsRnC_ctra-phTzXVYB7cwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0083.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-88102104105812691412017-11-01T01:30:00.000-03:002017-11-01T01:30:05.448-03:00Oh I'll never go a nanowing again! Or will I?Hello all peeps - it is the first of November which makes it a double fun day for us writers around here - it is, of course, another meeting of the<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html"> Insecure Writers Support Group.</a>&nbsp; Sign up here if you are so inclined. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="196" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s200/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is also the first day of NaNoWriMo which gets lots of us in a tizzy. Will we enter? Will we finish? Will we ever finish the last twelve novels we've started on hopeful November the firsts? Okay - time for some fun facts (or recollections which might be true but remain a bit fuzzy in my head).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think I've done five NaNoWriMo's plus a couple of BuNoWriMos (similar but in June and much more intimate).&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have one novel that is completely finished and being shopped to sell - <i>Bright Angel</i>. Not sure whether I started it in a NaNo or a BuNo and too lazy to check.&nbsp; Two years ago today I started <i>Crooked Knife </i>in a NaNo and last year finished it in the same - only I didn't really. I have a novel's worth of writing but the ending isn't really done and I've been pushing against that now for another year. I've also got a not-finished mystery called <i>Earth Bound</i>&nbsp;that isn't finished and is actually quite a big schmozzle though I believe still salvageable. That means I have a love hate relationship with NaNo-ing. I love the challenge and I think all but once won (meaning I did my 50 thousand words) . I'd much rather write a new novel than struggle along beating some poor dead horse - but - arggh! This year I'm struggling again. I really don't have time. I work full-time and I've taken on a Buddhist practice that takes about 45 hours a month to do properly.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'd sort of like to do a memoir of my time in Labrador. This is our last year. Could I do it? Sure enough. I'd definitely finish my words if I promised to write them. The only NaNo I failed was because it had no word challenge attached. But it begs the question&nbsp; - what do you win when you hit&nbsp; Noveber 30th with your 50 thousand words? You win a hot mess, or a good start or maybe both. I know that if I say I'll do an edit I won't. I've tried. So I'm stymied. I'll think on it and I'll add to this tomorrow to tell you my decision. Because it isn't really November 1st here now - it is October 31st. Boo!</div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-29944739054087400312017-10-04T02:30:00.000-03:002017-10-04T02:30:14.661-03:00October's meeting of the IWSG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It's another meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html"><span style="color: #a13700;">Insecure Writer's Support Group</span>&nbsp;</a>- we meet to well, support each other in our crazy desires to be part of the writing life. If you're interested go to the link above and sign up or at least have a boo - lots of great blogs to visit!</span></i></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #1e1e1e; font-family: &quot;Trebuchet MS&quot;, Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></i>October....mmmmh.....fall colours, Thanksgiving*, beautiful light, hunkering down for the long Northern winter.<br /><br />So let's go around and see how we can support each other. I'll check in first. My name is Jan and I'm a writer. This last month has been strange because I've been getting lots of rejections. That's because I sent out a whack of queries in June and they are coming home to roost (or rot!). Logically I am aware that I'm getting so many because of how many I sent out but it is bumming me out. Also, I'm trying to finish <i>Crooked Knife</i> and it is soooooo hard! So I feel kind of whiny and like a little kid. What I'd like to hear from you - my support peeps - is that this feeling will pass and I should just carry on - that it was brave of me to send so many queries out and of course it is unpleasant to be rejected over and over again. And that <i>Crooked Knife</i> will be shit-hot when it is done and I need to not give up on it either. Yah, like that.<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br />In other news, next week I will read two poems at a poetry reading of a new friend. I'm the one that suggested since she was visiting this remote northern paradise she should read. Now I'm organizing it and will read two of my Labrador inspired poems. Looking forward to it.<br /><br />And here is a photo I took last week at about 6 AM after watching Venus rise and seeing Northern Lights. This is our gate onto the beach. Heaven.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2jFqfu-_5z0/WdJibHcA2fI/AAAAAAAAJlc/jN9Q2FpNw84Nvjr6_FdLelFOcsf6p9nygCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_0029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2jFqfu-_5z0/WdJibHcA2fI/AAAAAAAAJlc/jN9Q2FpNw84Nvjr6_FdLelFOcsf6p9nygCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_0029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />* - for the last time, Amuricans - Canucks have it earlier because our Harvest is earlier. Deal with it. And Thursdays have zero to do with our Thanksgiving. Neither does football. Turkeys, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce (only it will be redberry here) and all that sure, but football? No.<br /><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-79802884749742687662017-09-06T04:30:00.000-03:002017-09-06T04:30:32.632-03:00What Me Worry - September meeting of the IWSG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b>It's another meeting of the <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">Insecure Writer's Support Group</a> - we meet to well, support each other in our crazy desires to be part of the writing life. If you're interested go to the link above and sign up or at least have a boo - lots of great blogs to visit!</b></i></div><br />I love September - clean notebooks, unsullied track record with teachers. Sure it's been forty some years since I was in High School but the feeling prevails. I have lots of energy this September - this new hip I received five months ago has given me a terrific boost in every part of my life. This will be our last year living in Labrador and so I really want to make sure that I take part in everything that makes this place so special. For my writing it means two projects (at least) - one is the mystery I started a couple of years ago that is set here. I need to finish my first draft (got caught in the ending and need to muddle my way through) and the other is to finish a poetry project. Both of those are very tied to this land, these people, and so I need to pay attention!<br /><br />So - I will set some goals - I now have every second Monday off so I have a bit more time free.<br /><br /><b>Crooked Knife </b>- finish first draft by October 15th, final revision by January 15. Query package by February 15th!<br /><br /><b>Labrador Poems </b>&nbsp;- go over current collection and see how to edit and what is missing. Query package by January 30th.<br /><br /><b>Bright Angel </b>- continue to send out query packages. Look at first chapter to see if it needs revising again!<br /><br />Okay - that's it for me. I'm also manifesting which is an interesting process. I'll talk more about that later...<br /><br />Now, back to work I go. It is a crisp September morning and I'm walking with our clients...Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-4266096924894206982017-08-11T13:59:00.002-03:002017-08-11T16:46:53.076-03:00slow turning<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: &quot;verdana&quot; , &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 13.4px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;">"Slow Turning"</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;" /></span><br /><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">When I was a boy,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I thought it just came to ya'<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But I never could tell what's mine<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />So it didn't matter anyway<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />My only pride and joy<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Was this racket down here<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Bangin' on an old guitar<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />And singin' what I had to say<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I always thought our house was haunted<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But nobody said boo to me<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I never did get what I wanted<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Now I get what I need<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">[Chorus:]</i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />It's been a slow turnin'<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />From the inside out<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A slow turnin'<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But you come about<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Slow learnin'<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But you learn to sway<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A slow turnin' baby<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Not fade away<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Now I'm in my car<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I got the radio on<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I'm yellin' at the kids in the back seat<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />'Cause they're bangin' like Charlie Watts<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />You think you've come so far<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />In this one horse town<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Then she's laughin' that crazy laugh<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />'Cause you haven't left the parkin' lot<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Time is short and here's the damn thing about it<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />You're gonna die, gonna die for sure<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />And you can learn to life with love or without it<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But there ain't no cure<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />There's just a...<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">[Chorus]</i></span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></i></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></i></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></i></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">Do you know this song? Sometimes it slides into my mind..."time is short and here's the damn thing about it/You're gonna die, gonna die for sure"</i></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></i></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></i></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;">I just found out that an old pal of mine died last month. Her husband didn't know where I was and because I'm off facebook and moved to Labrador - well he tried. I hadn't seen Cinda for a couple of years - our lives took different directions but I have to say her death really struck me.&nbsp;</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;">She died a mean long death too. I talked to her husband last night. They were married for nearly 51 years - some of that good, some not so good, but they stuck. Last I saw Cinda she was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Her hands were very bad and she was having a hard time continuing to live the way she was used to. Things got worse. She developed problems with her breathing - a complication of the RA - and had to be hospitalized a number of times. She would pass out and fractured many bones in her falls. Her eyesight was going and she didn't want any surgeries so even reading or watching television became too hard. She lost way too much weight and couldn't regain any strength. Her husband helped with everything and her children who lived nearby helped too.&nbsp;</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;">Through it all she was still Cinda. She still could cackle like a loon, and demand respect with a glance, and compel those around her to reckon with her force.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;">She told me a story of her first teaching job that is incredible and touching. I'm going to write it up, check the details with her husband and send it in to the <i>Globe &amp; Mail</i>'s Lives Lived column. It is the story of a young woman teaching the toughest class in the toughest school. It is about not giving up on anyone. Though she'd be the first to deny this - Cinda was a true Bodhisattva &nbsp;- and I'd like to tell this powerful story.<br /><br />People's lives mean something. Their stories shouldn't fade away like their bodies do. They should keep on being told as inspiration and hope for those coming behind.<br /><br />Stay tuned.<br /><br />Here's a painting I made that I know she would have appreciated -<br /><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e_O9urjZy6A/WY3iOOkzyvI/AAAAAAAAJGM/9XbXngeQSaYf1fZSmII_JwbL4UfJtWunACLcBGAs/s1600/160703_100508%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e_O9urjZy6A/WY3iOOkzyvI/AAAAAAAAJGM/9XbXngeQSaYf1fZSmII_JwbL4UfJtWunACLcBGAs/s320/160703_100508%25281%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13.4px; text-align: left;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;segoe print&quot;; font-size: 9.0pt;">Tina looked at the dirty dishes in the sink, the dust tumbleweeds rolling through <o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;segoe print&quot;; font-size: 9.0pt;">the house, and the bills piling up on the kitchen table. Sighing, she rolled up <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: &quot;segoe print&quot;; font-size: 9.0pt;">her sleeves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Then she came to her senses.</span></div></div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-15863626839206167592017-08-02T08:09:00.000-03:002017-08-02T08:47:43.052-03:00Insecure Writers Support Group meeting called to order <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="400" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1YwbOS1Itj4/UEc6oFRTPjI/AAAAAAAAAHY/97Phr6QiYFU4ScewsQlyFYLAOhohKtQKwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/InsecureWritersSupportGroup%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #ddeeff; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">A</span><i style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;">&nbsp;</i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="text-align: start;"><i style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif;">Here it is - another meeting of the &nbsp;</i></span></span><a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">IWSG</a>!&nbsp;<i style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;, serif; text-align: start;">The goal of this blog hop is to be able to express any writerly concerns and to support those of our tribe. &nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Alex Cavanaugh</a>&nbsp;is&nbsp;our brilliant ninja leader.&nbsp;&nbsp;To read posts from other members, click <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a></i></div><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>Okay! This has been a whirlwind of a month and now I'm an hour late getting this post out! I'm going to take this opportunity to look back and try to make sense of it.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>I started back to my job on Monday after four and a half months off due to my hip replacement surgery.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>I feel physically terrific- &nbsp;danced for three hours at my nephew's wedding without any issues! <br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>By June I felt sufficiently recovered enough to take on quite a few tasks and I had an incredibly productive month. Not all of this was to do with writing - I'm involved in a particular intense spiritual practice right now that I did daily for an hour and a half. &nbsp;I drew daily and I made a collection of art dolls (about fourteen). &nbsp;In the writing world I decided to focus on submitting and I set a goal of 15 submissions for the month of June. Many of these were queries regarding my novel - Bright Angel &nbsp;- but some were poetry submissions to literary journals.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>July was a different kettle of fish. I could have gone back to work but had a wedding to attend in Ontario and family and friends to see in Nova Scotia so I made the decision to go on an unpaid leave for the month. My focus was on socializing however, the fella and I were unpleasantly surprised to find our home in Nova Scotia had been damaged badly by tenants and so that part of the trip turned into a work-cation. Gah!<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>This will be our last year in Labrador so everything has a rather dream-like feeling as we dismantle the mandala we have built here.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>I'm attempting to organize my work life to be less 9 to 5 and more one with one week very intense and one much lighter. If I'm able to get this happening my plan is to spend the light week working on my unfinished novel set here in Labrador. I would also like to do a series of essays on life here in the subarctic. I have two finished (and submitted to a national contest) and have ideas for many more.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>Managing my recovery turned my attention to an old passion of mine - actually as I write this I realize TWO old passions. One is doll making, which I've developed into another way to spin a narrative, but the one I wanted to mention here is my passion for organizational skills. &nbsp;I've begun to bullet journal and am finding it a terrific way to keep my discipline in all areas of my life. I'm also passionate about decluttering right now. Finding our home in Nova Scotia so messed up and going through the items we kept in storage there made me realize how easy it is to be run by "stuff".<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>We will be selling this house in Labrador next year and as it was the home of my fella's parents and co-owned by the siblings it will be a big dismantling. &nbsp;Every teacup will have to be discussed! &nbsp;I want this started now so we aren't crazily doing it while packing to leave.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>I know this has been a discursive ramble and I'm sorry but the truth is that my crazy writing life is not separate from my crazy life.<br /><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><br /></a>How are you doing midsummer my friends? Here is a photo of a toy I found at our Nova Scotia home that might be a self-portrait.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ln0O8Ly_mI/WYGxka5n-vI/AAAAAAAAJC4/pke5SSObq9Uk2yH4KC2fsdCOubbUIuS6ACLcBGAs/s320/20170718_150126.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><br /><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-54166079326152352532017-07-05T06:00:00.000-03:002017-07-05T08:07:38.126-03:00Lessons learned - IWSG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkSQPnw5yDYn3zsl5LuKJmZgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com%20/%20p%20/%20iwsg-sign-up.html">IWSG</a></div>Well here we are again! Gather around writing pals and let's swap stories of what we've learned on the writing trail. Well I've learned never to say outloud what me and my school marm little woman are going to do with the money I'll make when this here cattle drive is over (a little house in town with a picket fence - that's what!), because six minutes later the cattle will stampede and I'll be dead. Okay - wrong trail but still - that's hubris and it'll bite you in the britches if you get too big feelin' no matter what game a person is in. But I didn't learn that from writing - I learned it watching cowboy movies.<br /><br />What I have learned is to persevere. I'm a writer and so I write. I may get to be an author someday but that will be a side-effect. &nbsp;I will have lots of essays, poems, novels and plays written - so I will have fruition, but I'll only get to be published if I also submit, query and generally pitch my stuff (to others, not in the garbage).<br /><br />This month while some of my pals BuNoWriMoed (wrote 50 thousand words) &nbsp;I decided to focus on submitting. &nbsp;I made fifteen submissions to contests, publishers and agents. Some of it was my novel, some poems and essays. I feel pretty stoked actually. In the fall I'll get back to finishing Crooked Knife, but right now this seemed the best use of my time.<br /><br />So persevering is what I learned for both writing and publishing. Also for every goal - becoming healthy after a hip replacement, &nbsp;following my spiritual practice, &nbsp;working with troubled youth - wait! It isn't quite perseverance in the way you might think - it is deciding on a path and sticking to it despite the outcomes. I don't know that I'll get published or if I do it will be satisfying. I don't know that I'll reach enlightenment or help anyone in a meaningful way. &nbsp;But those are my goals and I've had no indication that being on this path is a bad idea. I like the path in of itself. So I will persevere.<br /><br />Carry on....Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-36549763523023485712017-06-07T02:00:00.000-03:002017-06-07T02:00:29.708-03:00IWSG - quit? Hell no!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQvya7QLrXFITI8C5m9WmpdQCPcB/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="932" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQvya7QLrXFITI8C5m9WmpdQCPcB/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Here we are again - a loyal band of word <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">warriors</a> - or is that worriers? The question, very tentatively suggested is have you ever considered quitting the writing game. My answer is unequivocally no. It has quit me on occasion but I have never considered quitting it. &nbsp;But I'm only 65 and I started late - I was seven or eight. So who knows?<br /><br />Sure, I haven't hit pay dirt with this writing racket but I never found true love until I was fifty (our loveversary is on St. Jean Baptiste Day thus month). I'm a late bloomer.<br /><br />I will take a moment to remind myself and my readers (hi Margot!) that I've had several plays hit the stage; I've had poetry both published and awarded; I ran a successful and wildly fun mystery entertainment biz for over 25 years with my two best friends, and I won an essay contest (national) when I was in grade 7!<br /><br />Seriously - I can't imagine stopping writing. I have a friend who did. She, like me, had a good profession, but loved to write. She wrote and had published a great book of short stories. Then she poured her heart into a novel that had a story that was similar in its idea to one that got published to great acclaim just as she was finishing hers. She burnt it and quit writing. &nbsp;It was one of those things that still gets discussed in hushed and amazed tones by writers back home. &nbsp;Another possible reason for this calamity may have been that her closest friend was published and published and published. &nbsp;That can get old if you let it.<br /><br />I did have an epiphany this month I'd like to share. I got a rejection from a publisher last week. What was abnormal about this was my reaction - I felt completely okay. When I was talking to another writer pal I mentioned this and realized that my equanimity was due to feeling very happy with both my manuscript and my query package. When I got the rejection I merely shrugged and thought 'that's the way the cookie crumbles'.<br /><br />I'm not writing much these days though. I'm two months out with my bionic hip and sitting at my desk is still too tough for any length of time. I do plan on getting 15 packages out in the month of June. Some will be for Bright Angel and some will be for some poems, a couple of short stories and a few essays. Also, a friend and I are writing a mystery to be performed at a local museum. Lots of fun!<br /><br />And I continue to hand sew a series of dolls with elaborate back-stories .<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tbUnEqazwyY/WTaHjZk41kI/AAAAAAAAIkM/_Gk7SEsvyioPKj_raJ_lWNTGh2yvyUChwCLcB/s1600/20170606_074105.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1600" height="173" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tbUnEqazwyY/WTaHjZk41kI/AAAAAAAAIkM/_Gk7SEsvyioPKj_raJ_lWNTGh2yvyUChwCLcB/s400/20170606_074105.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-3161743642899772512017-05-03T06:00:00.001-03:002017-05-03T07:57:07.536-03:00Insecure? Hell yes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkFpyFh4AgS7zwP2erLZiJnACPcB/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkFpyFh4AgS7zwP2erLZiJnACPcB/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is time for another meeting of the <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/">IWSG</a>. We meet the first Wednesday of every month to share, console, celebrate and commiserate the successes, fabulous failures, and struggles on this writing path.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today the question on the table is 'What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story?" Now that's a great question - I'm flipping through my memory banks. &nbsp; For almost 30 years, two friends and myself ran a murder mystery company. We researched many ways to kill someone, as well as all sorts of clubs or interests that would draw a group to a resort. What we discovered was that no matter how bizarre of a notion we dreamed up, we would find real life examples of it. This was pre-google too. Cross-country skiers for Christ - yep. Sonic healing - check. &nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of my faves though was based on our most frequented resort Oak Island Inn. The mysteries surrounding the suposed treasure buried there are far beyond anything we could fabulate but we did an excellent job with a plot that involved a female viagra factory that used the island's mysterious past to cover up their bizarre doings. I do believe the story behind Wonder Woman was also part of the plot and the secret bunker that had been co-designed by President Roosevelt &nbsp;and our Canadian leader, Prime Minister King. I'm quite fuzzy on that one though.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love doing research for novels. I like inventing businesses, &nbsp;and conspiracies and then researching to see if it might be possible. Right now I'm using my rage at our provincial government and corporate greed to write a murder mystery set on the reserve where I work. Because of the nature of the location in Labrador it will not be possible to disguise the place or the doings that frame the story, so I best do my research well. &nbsp;I always remember that the facts in novels are servants to the fiction, and not the other way round.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Right now researching would be a good way to use my time. I'm home recovering from a total hip replacement and cannot sit at my computer. &nbsp;I can use my tablet for short pieces like this and I could certainly research some info I need on the Lower Churchill Project.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">LATE BREAKING NEWS : Last evening my fella said to me that he'd &nbsp;build me a little bed table and I could use his laptop to write on in the day. He'll work on it today in his spare time at work. He teaches home building at the community college. &nbsp;We probably won't set it up with my files until the weekend but YAY! I have about three or more weeks of recovery before going back to work do this would be a true Buddhasend.</div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-21447444223426999052017-04-19T08:36:00.001-03:002017-04-19T08:36:45.607-03:00Afloat on my little bed boatThis is, uh day eleven of my recovery from a total hip replacement. &nbsp;I'm now a cyborg like Seven of Nine or was it Nine of Seven - no - the first. Only I'm not unbelievably beautiful and smart. I do have a hip artisanially created from ceramic, stainless steel and titanium. &nbsp;And I got rid of the crocodile that has been crunching my bones for the last few years. That was, after all, the point of seeing three orthopedic surgeons, taking four flight to Corner Brook and St. Anthony &nbsp;(on the island), and then having major surgery. <br /><br />Now I'm ensconced in bed, surrounded by phones and android, tissues, novels, sketchbooks (3 of them!), a reacher for picking up the fallen, and other flotsam and jetsum. As of Sunday I could get in and out of bed without Ron needing to move my foot. First I would lasso it then drag it to the bed edge. Now it moves , though stupidly, with my desire.<br /><br />Me: Foot! Move, l need to pee!<br /><br />Foot: La la la! I can't hear you.<br /><br />Me: Now come on foot! It isn't my fault - they had to cut up the thigh to fix my hip.<br /><br />Foot: Right. Well next time maybe you'll have the decency to inform me of your plans.<br /><br />Me : Sorry. Could you just move yourself a tad? No?<br /><br />And so on. It is still grumbling like a righteous 14 year old but moving all the same.<br /><br />Today I have a couple of goals.<br />1. Get changed.<br />2. Write blog post. (done!)<br />3. Draw at least two hatching drawings.<br />4. Contact EI to get benefits rolling.<br />5. Stroll about some on my walker.<br />6. Write something...?<br /><br />Okay - the point of this post arises. I can't really write real stuff on this android. Short posts, responses on threads - that's about it. &nbsp;Cannot sit on computer chair. So...is it reasonable to think I'll be able to use this rather than large amount of time to work on my novel?<br /><br />What do you think? Any suggestions?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4cBFO0nUitM/WPdLqLAEYrI/AAAAAAAAIHI/avpfHV9HUa8yOqBsNUdKiDK_EJAnEOnxQCLcB/s1600/1492601761398-1422140716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4cBFO0nUitM/WPdLqLAEYrI/AAAAAAAAIHI/avpfHV9HUa8yOqBsNUdKiDK_EJAnEOnxQCLcB/s320/1492601761398-1422140716.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-7172653963202456072017-04-05T06:00:00.000-03:002017-04-05T11:35:36.951-03:00IWSG is in sessionWhoah there Nellie!<br />I'm writing this on March 31st. On the fifth - when you're reading this - I'll be zinging through the air flying from Goose Bay to St. Anthony to have hip surgery. &nbsp;I'll be having it on the 7th. Who says writing isn't time travel! Of course it is.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkFpyFh4AgS7zwP2erLZiJnACPcB/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0M/8VKkAXE6ShkFpyFh4AgS7zwP2erLZiJnACPcB/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />If you haven't signed up for the <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">IWSG</a> - here's the link to those who have. Go visit a bunch of wonderful bloggers.This month's question was about how the A to Zed &nbsp;helped with marketing. I'm not marketing yet but at any rate I'm not doing the &nbsp;A to Zed &nbsp;this year for the first time in forever. That made me feel a little bit sick to say. Am I really not? Already my mind is figuring out how I can do it and still stay sane. My operation is on the seventh and no idea how I'm going to feel for the first couple of weeks so no - I can't do it.<br /><br />Disappointment is what I'd like to discuss in today's post. Disappointment and how it affects one's discipline. &nbsp;Two weeks ago my novel was rejected by a publisher who requested a full last year. They obviously liked the package enough to request the full but they were committed to publishing a novel with a similar premise so had to turn me down. &nbsp;It is only the second rejection and so it would be crazy for me to get too blue ... but it has been an extremely tough time and I was hoping for a win. When you are in a shitload of pain (rotten hip), and work is hard, and isolation from family and friends ongoing - well, a person (me) gets sooky. &nbsp;Lately my discipline has been shit too. I'm not writing regularly. I'm not sending out packages to replace the rejected ones. I'm not even doing my Buddhist meditation practice regularly. &nbsp;Truth is that I'm working (or was up until the 20th of March) coming home and flopping. This last week when I found out my surgery was postponed a week l went into a fit of making dolls. This is normal for me every two years or so. I'm drawing pretty regularly too. &nbsp;So there's that.<br /><br />Here are the two dolls I made - &nbsp;Izzy is the fuzzy one and Dot the dotty one.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7XaWj-dmzcM/WN6JbMIpDUI/AAAAAAAAH-M/hf7_rZRYdzMuWMbFMiCso5cvjzDx2pYdQCLcB/s1600/20170331_105557.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7XaWj-dmzcM/WN6JbMIpDUI/AAAAAAAAH-M/hf7_rZRYdzMuWMbFMiCso5cvjzDx2pYdQCLcB/s320/20170331_105557.png" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tQL7xIdXMA/WN6JPqjGLuI/AAAAAAAAH-I/EOeQx9-0BtwKwThau0phI9WE5mkxmnLAwCLcB/s1600/20170331_105628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_tQL7xIdXMA/WN6JPqjGLuI/AAAAAAAAH-I/EOeQx9-0BtwKwThau0phI9WE5mkxmnLAwCLcB/s320/20170331_105628.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh - adding this now as I await my ride to the airport. &nbsp;Since I wrote this I've recovered a bit of joi de vie. I've sent out two packages to publishers and feel, once again, that I have a good chance of getting Bright Angel published. I also made a third doll.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BvQxJPt3yp4/WOT7nVq4bTI/AAAAAAAAICQ/vtUn7t5kTPoeVhFwxhmoJfi13CsdruvsgCLcB/s1600/20170402_194412%2Bnew.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BvQxJPt3yp4/WOT7nVq4bTI/AAAAAAAAICQ/vtUn7t5kTPoeVhFwxhmoJfi13CsdruvsgCLcB/s320/20170402_194412%2Bnew.png" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Her name is Germaine and she recently married and moved to a suburb of Etobicoke - both things she now regrets. She smokes and plans her escape.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All of these dolls have a small accordion file book, where some of the important details of their lives are recorded.</div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-80607105000419280002017-03-01T05:00:00.000-04:002017-03-01T09:37:12.727-04:00Another meeting of the IWSG already?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0I/1xs9vQEsknocHqJEpFG8A9y9cZf8YBQdwCLcB/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7i1kCNzKkc8/WLWBRIK-mGI/AAAAAAAAH0I/1xs9vQEsknocHqJEpFG8A9y9cZf8YBQdwCLcB/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Yes it is! Wow - February flew! If you don't know what this group does go&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">here</a>&nbsp;and join up! We meet on the first Wednesday of every month and that is today.<br /><br />Here is the merely suggested question for this month:<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: small;"><b style="background-color: cyan; text-align: center;">March 1 Question:&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: cyan; text-align: center;">Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?</span></span></h2><div><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">Why yes, I have! I'm not sure what you would call a really old story - and I'm sure you mean one of&nbsp;<b>my</b>&nbsp;own really old stories but how old do you think I am? Okay. I am really old. For a dog. For a human I'm middling old. But I seriously digress.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">I pulled out a short story that I knew had more in it because the readers of a contest told me (like they always do) that my short stories are more like novel intros. So I took that story and turned it into a novel. The story was about a mother who only incidentally to the plot had two children. I turned it into a novel which is mainly about the youngest daughter and the mother's step-aunt. I think the reason that I did this, because normally I'd rather just have a brand-new idea for a novel, is that the name of the youngest daughter was Pinky and she just insisted on being heard. Now that story is &nbsp;(many many ) years later completely utterly finished&nbsp;</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">and&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">in the hands of a few publishers</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">! Ta da! So I think it worked out. I have a few (okay - four) novels that could use a good going over. I'm not sure I'm up to it as I'm now on to another novel but, we'll see. I think each story teaches me something whether it sees the light of day or not.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">Another way that I looked at this question was to consider whether I've ever used an ancient story as the inspiration for something I'm working on. I can't remember any that have worked out but I am inspired by revisiting ancient fairytales, myths and so on. I'm totally impressed with what writers have done with the Archie comics in the television show 'Riverdale'. How they turned this lighthearted account of teen life in the fifties into a gothic story in a contemporary world is truly fascinating. Jughead remains my fave character!</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">This last month I didn't really work on my new novel though. I worked on two essays for a big non-fiction contest here in Canada. It was really great stretching my muscles in a relatively new way and as the word limit was 1800 quite a shorter way too. I'm very interested in the essay format and tried something poetic with one of my submissions. Hope I do well, but if I don't I still have two essays that I'm proud of. I've been reading lots of essay books. Here are some I'm currently reading &nbsp;-<i>View From the Cheap Seats&nbsp;</i>by Neil Gaiman;&nbsp;<i>The Wave in the Mind&nbsp;</i>by Ursula K. Le Guin; and&nbsp;<i>Hope in the Dark&nbsp;</i>by Rebecca Solnit.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">And that brings me to my final thought for this month's meeting - reading good writers talking about their writing or the state of the world or feminism or anything in that line - well, it keeps the negativity at bay. So, writing companions, when I get down on my own output, I increase my input!</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">How do the rest of you manage, especially during these long pre-spring days? Truthfully, we don't have spring here - it will be frozen over until June. But I have spring fever still and a desire to get everything in order. I'm having my new hip surgery at the end of this month so I really want things tickety boo. I also took myself off social media (yes - that one which is not a dear face or a good book) which is giving me oodles more time. Which I spend writing, cleaning, drawing, cleaning, organizing and cleaning. Ha!</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;">Here is a drawing I made of my dear home under a huge rainbow.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tNrB0S8IKJU/WLWIUr2j6gI/AAAAAAAAH0Y/aFKy40eTO-MIwpUwkovSS-jP71lYPlxzgCLcB/s1600/160913_072501%25281%2529%2B%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tNrB0S8IKJU/WLWIUr2j6gI/AAAAAAAAH0Y/aFKy40eTO-MIwpUwkovSS-jP71lYPlxzgCLcB/s320/160913_072501%25281%2529%2B%25282%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;freesans&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: &quot;arial&quot; , &quot;tahoma&quot; , &quot;helvetica&quot; , &quot;freesans&quot; , sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><br /></span>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-8364279328718744752017-02-01T07:44:00.002-04:002017-02-01T09:58:58.067-04:00The Insecure Writer's Support Group Meeting is in session.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html"><img alt=" IWSG" border="0" height="196" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcE/R72tYn27ULQvya7QLrXFITI8C5m9WmpdQCPcB/s200/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">IWSG</a>&nbsp;- please go to this link to read other posts by writers or to join the group!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Good morning everyone! &nbsp;How are you? &nbsp;Here is a photo of the Point Amour lighthouse, the tallest in Atlantic Canada. &nbsp;It is on the south coast of Labrador and the fella and I saw it a couple of years ago when we took that route home.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgC4hgaC-8A/U_803acvMQI/AAAAAAAABmA/jZDvkvW2bmgVGI8FotQVsc6FePYx3nuGwCPcB/s1600/Newfoundland%2Btrip%2Bfrom%2BCD%2B168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgC4hgaC-8A/U_803acvMQI/AAAAAAAABmA/jZDvkvW2bmgVGI8FotQVsc6FePYx3nuGwCPcB/s320/Newfoundland%2Btrip%2Bfrom%2BCD%2B168.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And why a pic of a lighthouse? Well, a lighthouse is one of emblems of the IWSG. &nbsp;You might be sailing along very nicely, thank you, enjoying a calm sea and making great time on your voyage to publication, or to finish your third draft. Fine. But what if you find yourself in troubled waters? (Hey, I lived in Chester, NS - I can do the sailing metaphor for reams of virtual paper.) &nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps you are headed directly into uncharted waters. You might crash on the rocks that surround&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Bay d'Espoir (really - Bay Despair - on the northern coast of Newfoundland). But wait! You see the light glimmering through the fog and waves. You hear the deep baritone of its foghorn. The lighthouse helps guide you through treacherous waters.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">How does the group act as a lighthouse?</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Well, it is made up of many people who have different abilities on the writing front. Some of them are published authors, some are just starting out and many are in-between. &nbsp;ALL OF THEM are willing to extend a hand, point a way out of whatever fix you've found yourself in,and mostly to just listen, nod, and tell you to keep sailing.&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'm feeling very hopeful right now. No - not about the state of the world, but writing for me even helps that - but about my writing practice. I'm taking two days off this week so I can spend four days working on my current project. In the weird way that I work I guess I'm on both a second or third draft and figuring out the ending. Yes! I have to go back and back and keep approaching the ending until it becomes clear to me. This is a mystery so that is kind of important! I have all the components - now I must put them down in a narrative that holds the conclusion. Fun! &nbsp;I know if I get stuck and down on myself that I have a community that has my back and that is gold!</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">So - I wish everyone sunny skies and calm waters - but if you hit a squall let me know. I'll be there - shining my little light.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-83568675452890209642017-01-27T12:30:00.001-04:002017-01-27T12:30:05.674-04:00Might have to change the title of this blog...I`m still Jan Morrison but the `this crazy writing life`might need an edit. I might need to just say `this crazy life` or &nbsp;`this crazy drawing, watching, protesting, anything-but-writing life`. <br /><br />On the positive side, if I`m outing myself in this way it does mean I can make a fresh start at this year. The Buddhist New Year isn`t until the end of February so that could be it - but no, think I`ll fly at it a bit earlier.<br /><br />Maybe I`ll remember my old Kaizen approach. That is the discipline where one makes incremental changes instead of huge ones, in the hopes of your amygdala not acting up (I call it the Gorilla). The Gorilla doesn`t like changes of any kind. So I will make my changes small. I will tell the fella that I want to move my desktop computer downstairs because stairs are hard for me now and will be really hard after hip surgery. Then I will promise myself to work for half an hour on the new novel. That`s it. Just half an hour - no number limits. Nope. One half hour.<br /><br />Yep. That`s what I`m going to do.<br /><br />Thanks - youse guys always help me the most. Here`s a drawing I did in my one drawing a day klass.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sVqVW_Cjxck/WIt1bGP6svI/AAAAAAAAHs8/sDzE5zFElw83QJXzWdcDA1PTPABjrxeOwCLcB/s1600/15972361_1890334317863467_1759831735327523850_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sVqVW_Cjxck/WIt1bGP6svI/AAAAAAAAHs8/sDzE5zFElw83QJXzWdcDA1PTPABjrxeOwCLcB/s320/15972361_1890334317863467_1759831735327523850_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-78181857467782190732017-01-09T13:55:00.003-04:002017-01-09T13:55:42.947-04:00Post flu, post Trump, post postWowza! I usually save that word for things that really knock me off my feet beauty-wise. But I now offer it to the flu spirit. Wowza - you knocked me down and kept me down for three weeks. You kept me from celebrating my birthday, the birthday of Bodhisattva Jesus, the Gregorian New Year and a few other things I don't remember. I am the only person I know who came back from holidays having lost twelve pounds. And that wasn't from nausea or any of that nastiness - just no appetite. No appetite for any food - not even my go-to sick food (bowl of rice with butter, salt and pepper) or even ginger-ale. No appetite for anything - not for reading or watching or sleeping. Nada. No appetite for life at all. This flu, which seemed to be mainly a cold and cough, came with a terrible malaise. I have a very new and strong respect for those who suffer from depression. I don't know how folks make it day to day - because one has no energy to change, or belief that one can.<br /><br />On the up side, I'm loving feeling good. Well, feeling good within the limits of this hip pain. That I know will end. Just get me that new Barbi-doll hip and I'll be back roaming the woods and shore. But truly? If I was told that I either had to have the hip pain for the rest of my life or bouts of depression, I'd take the hip pain (as long as I could have my current medication that is). &nbsp;I have buckets of energy and just a true appreciation for feeling good enough, that is making each day easier. We have a new gang at work (I work at a residential treatment centre) and I can't wait to get to know them. I am excited for my days at the school on the reservation (Wednesdays) and am also glad for small accomplishments - I cleaned the fridge on Saturday!!<br /><br />In my writing life I have little to report except feelings of optimism. I'm still waiting to hear back from some folks on <i>Bright Angel </i>and have another set of query packages to go out. I really want to get <i>Crooked Knife </i>finished and polished and ready to go. I have a hunch about that book and I want to check out if I'm right. I also want to compile a manuscript of poetry and photos I've done since I've been in Labrador and see if I can someone to look at that - or self-publish it.<br /><br />I continue to do a digital painting with writing daily on fb and not sure if I need to do anything about that or just enjoy the discipline. &nbsp;here's one from a few weeks back. I find that my art has gotten darker since the election. Like Princess Leia said "take your broken heart and make art". It is healing and others seem to get something too.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P7TgUG9eaiA/WHPNkKTVVYI/AAAAAAAAHcw/2AYu8hPICQ48odlVMtWTlxylJ3rjp4zUwCLcB/s1600/a%2Briver%2Bto%2Bskate%2Baway%2Bon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P7TgUG9eaiA/WHPNkKTVVYI/AAAAAAAAHcw/2AYu8hPICQ48odlVMtWTlxylJ3rjp4zUwCLcB/s320/a%2Briver%2Bto%2Bskate%2Baway%2Bon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The river, the ice, the skates - sure, she had them, but the desire to skate away had flown.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&nbsp;Maybe skating in slow delicious circles was her way now.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">So that's me for right now. Feeling better, trying to stay on the up, creating and healing. Howzaboutyou?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-88124296136205365062017-01-04T08:16:00.000-04:002017-01-04T08:53:28.248-04:00Maybe just a tad insecure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcA/TjEOdI6aNmsUaZmTtPikbS32UXwD_DcNACLcB/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zpsUKvpaF0I/WGzwKQU-AQI/AAAAAAAAHcA/TjEOdI6aNmsUaZmTtPikbS32UXwD_DcNACLcB/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" width="320" /></a></u></span></div><br />Yes, it is another meeting of the <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">Insecure Writer's Support Group</a>! &nbsp;I'm ignoring the prompt today as I truly can't think of a piece of writers' advice that I wish I hadn't read and truly if I wished I hadn't read it why would I pass it on to you?<br /><br />Instead, I am going to tell you, and remind myself, of the best piece of writer advice I ever heard. It was from my daddio and it was "sit down and write!" Yep - he made it simple - a little dab of bum glue and a fella or gal would be set. Forget about everything else, or better yet, like a holistic farmer, turn all of it beneath your plow. Feeling stuck? Write about that. Bored with your story - make that ennui a plot point. &nbsp;Furious at all those rejection lettters? Writing well is the best revenge.<br /><br />It is the start of a nice fresh unbesmirched year. I've begun a new drawing course which has me making at least one drawing a day. I'm back on my cushion meditating. Today I will spend an hour with my most recent ms.<br /><br />How about you?Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-36331943793202776072016-12-07T06:00:00.000-04:002016-12-07T06:00:23.569-04:00&nbsp;Yes, oh my, it is time for another meeting of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html">Insecure Writers Support Group</a>! Click the name and go to the site to sign up. It's a world of fun.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HYmAn1Wf5Hw/WD8aVrN27tI/AAAAAAAAHYM/kkyG36Z_mecHx_f1A58MwWA7wCopdF-SgCLcB/s1600/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HYmAn1Wf5Hw/WD8aVrN27tI/AAAAAAAAHYM/kkyG36Z_mecHx_f1A58MwWA7wCopdF-SgCLcB/s320/Insecure%2BWriters%2BSupport%2BGroup%2BBadge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><strong>DECEMBER'S QUESTION:</strong></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">&nbsp;In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what's your plan to get there?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jeesh - I don't only have to show up - I have to think. Five years, five long crazy years. Will I be back in Nova Scotia? I sure hope so. I suppose that isn't the question but my writing life is entwined intimately with my life life. In five years I would like to have three books published. <i>Bright Angel </i>will be first - I think it will be published in 2017. Next up will be the one I just finished the first shitty draft of - <i>Crooked Knife. </i>&nbsp;The other one I'm less certain of - it may be one that I've already finished but need to polish before it goes a looking for a home - <i>The Rock Walker. </i>&nbsp;It, like <i>Crooked Knife,&nbsp;</i>is a mystery and I have another one mostly done that has the same protagonists. It is called <i>Earth Bound. </i>Or I might try another of my literary novels - <i>True </i>&nbsp;or <i>Feckless. </i>&nbsp;Hard to say. Both of them need another go round though they are mostly ready. Or it might be a totally new one I'm brewing - <i>Caribou Dreaming. </i>That's going to be a graphic novel so needs a different approach. I like to learn new things.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I would like to consider my poems too. Last year I wrote 65 poems for my best friend over the year. I finished in September and I really like them. They belong to her though so I'd have to see if she'd let me try and get them published. If not, I have loads of poems with no end in sight.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What a very fun topic this is.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now - how do I get there? One word at a time - whether it is a shitty first draft word, a revision word, or a selling package word. I feel really good about <i>Bright Angel. </i>It is out there and I'm not worrying about it. Oh - I haven't forgotten it - but I'm not stressing one way or the other. I know my package works and I trust the novel so we'll just see. Once it is published I'm well aware I'll have lots of work to do. No one handles the whole thing for writers anymore and I'm good with that. I was a publicist in a past life and I have no problem publicizing the heck out of that one. I like the story it tells and I think it is an important one. As to the other ones - I have to finish the one I just got up to 80 thousand words on. That will take me a bit of time - it is a holy mess. And then when ever I get bogged down on that I will polish on one of the other ones. Yep. A plan!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's my plan - how about you all?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, &quot;helvetica neue&quot;, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-57559801485488578362016-11-29T10:23:00.002-04:002016-11-29T10:23:39.275-04:00I did it!Hello peeps - through my tears, my rage, my deep deep sorrow at what is going on in the world - I finished my NaNoWriMo challenge. I wrote thirty thousand words on last years ms - Crooked Knife - bringing that up to 83 thousand words - a manuscript I can edit - though - I have to admit - it is not finished. I'm still unsure how to do the ending so I can't say that I have a finished shitty first draft - but it is in there somewhere! I'll put it away for a bit and then start carving away some, adding some and making it so. I also wrote about twenty thousand on my new project - Caribou Dreaming - which I'm hoping to morph into a graphic novel.<br /><br />I know these challenges aren't for everyone but they work for me, so I'll keep doing them. I was happy this year, as I figured out a way to use that word count button to my benefit - even though I didn't have a new piece that I was focusing on. &nbsp;Caribou Dreaming was a carrot to get me to finish Crooked Knife. Point is - it worked for me.<br /><br />Because <i>Crooked Knife </i>is set on the reservation where I work - I could put all sorts of my feelings about Muskrat Falls and the terrible project that Newfoundland Hydro has going there - I could make it part of the mystery - and yep get out all my rage at what big industry is doing to our world. I could address indigenous issues and as my protagonist is a cop who is not indigenous but works on the reservation - I could feel fairly free to discuss her dilemma's and awakening to what is really going on. I could politicize myself without it being at all preachy - I hope - there is lots of humour and fun in the book and it is a mystery.<br /><br />And that brings me to another point - I do want my writing to enlighten and inform people. That is why I write - it is why I live actually. I love reading and watching and enjoying art that is not political - but there has to be some human in there somewhere who wakes me up - or I'm not interested. I went to see The Once the other night. They are an amazing trio from Newfoundland and I can't describe their music but it is genuine - fun and full of love. The first song they did was one of Cohen's - <i>Coming Back to You </i>&nbsp;- and I was positively awash with tears and in the front row. They did it acapella &nbsp;- the words seemed to hang in space like jewels. The point is that their music helped heal my sore old heart and it amused me and inspired me and in one of their songs - <i>The Nameless Murderess</i> - I was positively elated at the innovative and wild sound they got.<br /><br /><br />What is art for? What is beauty and inspiration and innovation for? I really don't have an answer - I just know I need it. I hope with <i>Crooked Knife </i>that the readers will put it down and say something like 'Holy Hell - I had no idea that was going on in our world!'.<br /><br />How about you all -what do you create for? And here is a digital finger painting of mine called 'Come Home'.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YSASP535hTE/WD2PRhUjDuI/AAAAAAAAHX4/gc2KhuY4LecfFyTy7bG4wMgHiMYbXbHoACLcB/s1600/come%2Bhome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YSASP535hTE/WD2PRhUjDuI/AAAAAAAAHX4/gc2KhuY4LecfFyTy7bG4wMgHiMYbXbHoACLcB/s320/come%2Bhome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-87539512560929112022016-11-11T11:57:00.001-04:002016-11-11T11:57:33.295-04:00Dark DaysIt is November 11th - Remembrance Day in Canada. I'm at work on my break and thinking of everything that has happened this week.<br /><br /><ul><li>The flooding was begun at Muskrat Falls and it is clear we were lied to again by NALCOR and our government as it is higher than it was supposed to be. We were offered a compromise and we took it in good faith and they have reneged on that promise.</li></ul><div><br /></div><ul><li>A sociopath has taken control of America with at least some of them blessing the change. This is truly frightening.&nbsp;</li></ul><div><br /></div><ul><li>I went to see a orthopedic surgeon about having a hip replacement and he completely dismissed what I was saying and what other orthopedic surgeons had said and declared that I don't need one yet and maybe not at all. Instead, against my wishes, when I was confused and vulnerable he gave me a steroid shot. My face is now a vivid red - two days later - I am uncomfortable and of course still have a sore hip.</li></ul><div><br /></div><ul><li>Leonard Cohen has died.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6MuJDvM6t6I/WCXqLtOeEEI/AAAAAAAAHXA/wW1l4AoQ0iYToR5ewRuD5QwmaMC1Xl8lwCLcB/s1600/leonard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6MuJDvM6t6I/WCXqLtOeEEI/AAAAAAAAHXA/wW1l4AoQ0iYToR5ewRuD5QwmaMC1Xl8lwCLcB/s1600/leonard.jpg" /></a></div></li></ul><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The night of the election, restless and worried, I kept reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I've read it a gazillion times and I usually read it when I need cheering during the writing process. She is so sane and generous and funny - all of my favorite attributes. Even through all of this I have kept writing on my two projects for NaNoWriMo. I've written in my disappointment, my anger, my grief. It has all come out and it enhances the work I'm doing. As a Buddhist I understand the suggestion that we take it all to the cushion - an offering of our wounded messed-up stuff. It is the offering the Dralas (protective spirits - sort of) &nbsp;like to receive because it is given whole-heartedly. I believe our art is the same.</div><div><br /></div><div>&nbsp;I will dance me to the end of time.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-73069248629431610572016-11-03T13:03:00.002-03:002016-11-03T13:04:52.957-03:00NaNo UpdateYes - I know it is only day three but I have to encourage myself with everything I can. I've written over seven thousand words and just about half on my old ms <i>Crooked Knife</i> and half on the new one <i>Caribou Dreaming</i>. When I get to 20 thousand on CK I'll stop that one and write the rest on the new novel. That'll give me 70 thousand on CK and that should be enough for a first draft. Yep - I tend to add as I revise though I chop a lot too! Not sure about this process - it is sort of weird but it works to keep me motivated so I think I'll keep on. I've tried revising before on NaNoWriMo and I just can't do it without a word count being part of it. And it isn't exactly a word count I need on CK - I really am short a whole novel. It is very fun to be back in the game of writing on the mystery. I haven't tried in ages - since probably January or February. For one thing - I was very focused on actually finishing <i>Bright Angel </i>which also began on a month long writing marathon - though I believe it was the Burrowers version BuNoWriMo. I finished all the bits - the last revision, the sell package - including the dreaded synopsis and did my homework on where to send it. I sent it out in June and I have heard back from two of the six that I sent to. One publisher said that they liked it very much but didn't quite fit their lineup and the other asked for a full manuscript and I haven't heard back since. That's a good thing, no? They are arguing it at least. So four more to hear from but I feel like I've got a finished and polished package so that is good.<br /><br /><i>Crooked Knife </i>is a mystery set in the community where I live. Actually it is here and across the bridge in Sheshatshiu - the Innu reserve here in Labrador. It is very political and maybe way too close to the truth but I'll get it down the way I feel it now and then deal with that in the revisions. It was easy to start because I had so many opinions on the way things are here - and I know this location will be exotic to most folks as it is a northern community with not only First Nation's folks but Inuit and an established base of what is called hereabouts 'Settlers'. Now, after the last month's embroilment in a very big environmental activism fight I think I know exactly how to write this. So yay! My new novel is a YA also set here. It isn't a mystery - or at least not yet - as a devoted PANTSER I never really know. But I'm three and a half thousand words in and it is mostly a teenage angsty sort of story - again with the exoticism of this place and the hook that this teenager is having an identity crisis that also involves three different races.<br /><br />Here is a photo of Sheshatshiu from the bridge.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDS28btga4Q/VR0RbMbw8iI/AAAAAAAAB-k/LSHTP5bC538BlSnKqCKnaN7H9y7LxH6HgCPcB/s1600/IMG_0070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDS28btga4Q/VR0RbMbw8iI/AAAAAAAAB-k/LSHTP5bC538BlSnKqCKnaN7H9y7LxH6HgCPcB/s320/IMG_0070.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How is YOUR November going?</div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-13310673641349083682016-11-02T08:15:00.000-03:002016-11-03T13:07:11.109-03:00Who me?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YwbOS1Itj4/UEc6oFRTPjI/AAAAAAAAAHY/97Phr6QiYFUqjQte_brTLbkwhCAhA1w5ACPcB/s1600/InsecureWritersSupportGroup%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YwbOS1Itj4/UEc6oFRTPjI/AAAAAAAAAHY/97Phr6QiYFUqjQte_brTLbkwhCAhA1w5ACPcB/s320/InsecureWritersSupportGroup%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wow! Here we go again. Another meeting of the insecure writer's support group!<a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/">Group</a> I'm glad I posted at least once in between first Wednesdays. And yep, I still struggle with insecurity about writing and just about anything else. I will tell you what I'm good at though - I'm good at faking it. &nbsp;Right now I need to fake it because that is the only way I can sustain myself until I get the internal weather I'm hoping for. For I am the sky not the weather. I know I'm okay with all my wounds and scars. My basic goodness is intact like the sun, but it is being clouded by doubt and pain right now. &nbsp;So I put on positivity like a rain coat and get out there.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm happy to be doing NaNoWriMo again this year -it really helps. Because I need the word count thing I am using it to count 20 thousand words on last years novel, which will give me a proper, if messy, first draft. The other 30 thousand will be on a new YA called Caribou Dreaming .&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How are you all doing?</div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2722012954806248529.post-16537018296619676682016-10-31T20:49:00.001-03:002016-10-31T20:49:34.451-03:00Tomorrow is NaNoWriMo time!I'm a complete mess -waiting for a new hip - stoned on pain killers -exhausted from a huge environmental and indigenous rights battle -disheartened with the force and cruelty of global corporations &nbsp;(Muskrat Falls hydro project, Standing Rock, the ridiculous joke of the American election, women's disempowerment again!) so being a chirpy little energy writing bunny seems like the opposite of what I should be doing. Which would be ...sleeping? so, of course I'm jumping into the fray. I started a mystery last year and it is set in Labrador and involves a ton of the politics, the insanity of life on a reserve -especially for teens and the politics of the Muskrat Falls project . &nbsp;I'm fired up -why not &nbsp;use it. My goal is 20 thousand more words which &nbsp;is 666.66 words a day. &nbsp;So see you in the trenches. also I'll be gone for six days in November so will have to do those word ahead.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's me dressed up for one trick or treater. one.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRsSRnVZMO8/WBfYa6Fi4PI/AAAAAAAAHVg/h5MR3fia0hQjSP_vcB5IMXf2r3lOMBQPwCLcB/s1600/PaperArtist_2016-10-31_17-38-17.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRsSRnVZMO8/WBfYa6Fi4PI/AAAAAAAAHVg/h5MR3fia0hQjSP_vcB5IMXf2r3lOMBQPwCLcB/s320/PaperArtist_2016-10-31_17-38-17.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Jan Morrisonhttps://plus.google.com/102629107460765016049noreply@blogger.com2